Field of the Invention
The invention relates to chip package technology, and in particular to a chip package having a protective structure with a low dielectric constant (low-k) material and methods for forming the same.
Description of the Related Art
Optoelectronic devices (such as image-sensing devices) play an important role in capturing images and have been widely used in electronic products such as digital cameras, digital video recorders, and mobile phones. The chip packaging process is an important step in the fabrication of electronic products. Chip packages not only protect the chips therein from outer environmental contaminants but also provide electrical connection paths between the electronic elements inside and those outside of the chip packages.
However, in the fabrication of a chip package having a sensor chip, one factor that can impact the reliability of the chip package is that cracks can form in low-k dielectric material (e.g., the insulating portion of the metallization/interconnection layer) in the chip package. For example, when the wafer is diced into individual chip packages, cracks may be formed in the low-k dielectric material in the chip package due to the stress caused by the dicing process. As a result, the reliability and performance of the chip package are reduced.
Thus, there exists a need in the art for the development of a chip package and methods for forming the same capable of eliminating or mitigating the aforementioned problems.